Gallaudet Post Arrest Update

The Washington Post has the story but a little behind since it reported only 80 arrests were made but in reality 135 arrests were made. The DPS (ie campus police) had to pick up and drag limp deaf protesters in a form of passive resistence into waiting vans. Deaf onlookers cheered every time a deaf protester was picked up and arrested. All were transported to the Institute of Police Science.

Dr. I. King Jordan, current president of Gallaudet University set to retire this December after 18 illustrious years, had his hands forced to order the arrests of deaf protesters who continue to block the streets and entrances to campus. The forced campus shutdown has affected both Kendall elementary school and MSSD ("high school") on the campus of Gallaudet University.

"For one week, deaf infants and children and youth up to grade 8 have not been able to go to school," she said, referring to the elementary and high schools for deaf students on the campus.

"For one week, our model high school has been closed. For one week, both undergraduate and graduate students have been denied their education. For one week, we have had no mail delivered. Deaf babies scheduled for hearing tests and audiology exams are not able to get on campus. Senior citizens who are hard of hearing and seek the services of our audiology clinic cannot get here.

Protesters demanded that Dr. Jane K. Fernandes resign from being the 1st deaf woman selected by a mostly deaf Board of Trustees to become Gallaudet University's 9th president citing numerous reasons. One being that she doesn't have "leadership qualities" to represent the Deaf communities of the world. Others are deeper underlying issues as not being "ASL enough" by many protesters who continued to make notes about her signing in SimCom (signing and speaking at the same time) just as Dr. I. King Jordan has done.

Numerous people (deaf and hearing) have shown their disappointment about protesters and/or seeing their unlawful acts on forcing the closure of Gallaudet University campus.

Happy to see them go

The Gallaudet University Protests

A Fictitious Protest for Fictitous Reasons by the famous and well known bloggers' site DeafDC Blog on the topic why protesters are ignoring racism on campus.


There are more people out there who do not support the protesters' tactics and/or do not support the protesters' demands or reasonings. But one thing I have noticed, even back when I was a student at Gallaudet University in 1988, was the absence of diversity. Namely the number of black or students from various ethnic backgrounds (ei African Americans, Asians, Africans, etc) were noticeably small on campus in a sea of white faces in the middle of Washington D.C. known for it's very large black population. My first report to I. King Jordan in 1989 as part of my Honors Program course was my dissemination on the diversity issue on campus. And with the protesters' rallying cry of "Unity for Gallaudet" today I have questioned their true intentions since May of this year by asking "Unity for whom?"


Check out all of the latest Kokonut Pundits blogs on the Gallaudet University protest.

Read up all latest blogs reportings by bloggers on the protest situation.